Contaminated land could affect wealth and health

With an estimated 100,000 contaminated land sites across the UK,* home purchasers are putting themselves at risk of health problems, clean-up costs and potentially future difficulty selling at market value, if they fail to have an environmental search carried out on the property, reveals the Council for the National Land Information Service (C-NLIS).

With an estimated 100,000 contaminated land sites across the UK,* home purchasers are putting themselves at risk of health problems, clean-up costs and potentially future difficulty selling at market value, if they fail to have an environmental search carried out on the property, reveals the Council for the National Land Information Service (C-NLIS).

In 2006, almost half of all residential property transactions in the UK took place without an environmental survey, leaving buyers open to risk of contaminated land, flooding and subsidence. ** C-NLIS manages the National Land Information Service (NLIS) which supplies property searches from all Local Authorities in England and Wales and they urge homebuyers to protect themselves against financial and health problems by commissioning official land and property searches.

Buildings' insurance policies often fail to provide appropriate cover for environmental risks such as contaminated land or ground stability problems. As a result, homeowners can find themselves liable for clean-up costs incurred by contaminated land, irrespective of who caused the problem, or they may be unable to sell their property at its market value.

The areas of land most likely to be contaminated are Britain's old industrial sites such as mining, brickfields, gasworks and quarries. Current UK Government targets state that 80% of new housing should be built on previously developed land and therefore the risk to homebuyers is increasing.

Jan Boothroyd, Deputy  Chief Executive of C-NLIS, comments: "With increased Government emphasis on building homes on Brownfield sites, the risk of living on contaminated land is increasingly relevant.  While companies are undertaking stricter environmental risk management where a building site is contaminated, the responsibility ultimately lies with the potential homebuyer to commission official property searches.”

The environmental property search market has evolved rapidly over the past ten years. GroundSure, one of the UK's leading providers of environmental risk screening reports, produces a GroundSure Homebuyers Report that uses aerial photography, electronically scanned historical maps and a unique historical land use database, to give assured confidence for property purchasers and identify key environmental issues before a property is bought.

Paul Livett, Managing Director of GroundSure, comments: "I find it surprising that so many property transactions take place without an environmental survey. When you consider the potential risks involved, it makes sense to carry out environmental checks before making what is likely to be the single largest purchase an individual makes in their lifetime.

"Environmental due diligence procedures have advanced in recent years and it is now possible for a comprehensive environmental report to be produced on any individual property in the UK in a matter of hours. This is essential as under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 a person who owns a site may be responsible for any pollution or contamination on that site and the clean-up costs incurred, regardless of whether they caused it.”

* According to research carried out by RICS
** According to GroundSure management estimates